Friday, December 31, 2010

Since Seymore drinks so much OJ, I got him a Mighty OJ juicer for Christmas. I picked it up at a neat local shop here in Austin, TX called Zinger Hardware. Zinger is also where I found the "Nana Saver," more on that on a later product review post.

The lever is a little tricky to get going, but once I got the hang of it, it works pretty well. The trick is to hold the left bottom foot with your left hand and then pull the lever with your right. Plus, the retro design looks pretty cool.

The production was about 3 oranges for a glass of juice similar to what is shown on the product photo to the right.

I made myself a glass of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. Yield was 1 Texas Rio Star grapefruit for an impressive glass of juice:

The color was great, and the juice was light and flavorful, without the bitterness that some grapefruit juices have. Too bad I'm working today, this juice was begging for me to make it into a Greyhound, or a Salty Dog.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

I ate a lot of soup in Shanghai earlier this year. In fact, I may have eaten some form of soup every day I was there. One of the most common soups I encountered, especially on Western multi-course lunch menus, was a pumpkin soup. Creamy, smooth & warming (albeit somewhat bland and most likely not vegan).

Seeing as I have never made a pumpkin soup, I decided to try it out. My recipe of choice is from my Vegan Fire & Spice cookbook, and it is located in the chapter on Thailand. The recipe was definitely different from what I sampled in China, it is rich with coconut milk, lemongrass, peanut butter and limes, and spiked with dried peppers (which sounds like an unlikely combination but actually mingles together nicely).

The concept is to simmer the vegetables in the vegetable stock and then strain out the solids before adding the pumpkin puree, coconut milk & peanut butter.

Here is the stock simmering:

I think it came out pretty good, here's how the finished product looks:

On the note of exercising, I did manage to run a couple of miles prior to embarking on my pumpkin soup mission, so gold star for that.

Many people ask me why I choose vegetarianism, and the more extreme veganism. The stereotype of vegans are pasty, sickly looking individuals that look like they could use a sandwich (literally). Quite the contrary, this food lifestyle is being adopted by world class atheletes, with improved performance. Plants & whole grains provide nutrient dense, highly digestible fuel -- your body is a machine and it runs much cleaner without the sludge of meat and dairy.My inspiration came when I first picked up the Engine 2 Diet book in early 2009. I was tired of feeling tired, wanted my body to be more efficient, wanted to lose weight without starving myself, and desired to eat less meat. I have been a yo-yo dieter for many years (no carb, lo carb, weight watchers, etc). This diet does work, with the added benefit of increased mental clarity and improved cholesterol numbers. The premise is simple: eat plant-powered whole foods, including vegetables, whole grains, fruit, legumes, seeds and nuts. I have lapsed from the diet in the past year, but am back in full force! Try it, see if you feel better. I dare ya.

One thing that I love about this diet is that I find myself trying foods that I claimed not to like before (raw tomatoes are a good example, which I now eat regularly).

Sauté the onion and garlic in a large sprayed skillet on high heat for 3 minutes.Add the zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, and cabbage to the skillet. Cook 4–5 minutes, until the vegetables are al dente (soft but firm) and the cabbage is wilting.

Add the black beans, refried beans, and rice to the skillet. Stir the ingredients together on low heat until the mixture is thick and mortar-like. Season with the cumin and cayenne.

Slap a large spoonful of veggie mortar onto the center of the Ezekiel wrap and spread it from top to bottom along the center line.Fold the sides over using a bit of the veggie mortar as adhesive for the top flap.Rest the burritos next to each other and place them seam side down on a sprayed baking sheet.Bake for 20 minutes or until the wraps are crisp.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

When I am craving veggies, the easiest way to get a giant bowl full of them of all colors is to make a stir-fry.I have several recipes that I enjoy, and I often mix and match recipes to suit what I have on hand in my produce drawer.

After the "veggie burger poison" scare earlier this year, I had started buying only organic frozen patties -- which can be quite expensive. I decided to try the Engine 2's New York Times Veggie Burger, which I had sampled on a previous occasion, complements of my friend Steph.

Here is the end product:

Delicioso! Seymore thinks they taste better than the frozen ones. I like that they do not contain mushrooms, which I think are a vile.

Here is the recipe:

New York Times Veggie Burgers

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can tomatoes with zesty mild chilies, drained

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 green onions, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup parsley or cilantro

2 cups quick rolled oats

8 whole grain buns

Fresh veggie toppings and healthy condiments

Preheat oven to 450º.Process the first seven ingredients using an immersion or a regular blender or food processor.Remove contents into a large bowl and stir in the oats.Form into patties, place on a sprayed baking sheet, and bake for 8 minutes.

Here is a photo I took of the patties prior to baking them:

Turn oven up to broil and cook for 2 more minutes, until the tops are nicely browned.Toast the buns and pile on your favorite toppings.

The only changes that I made were to add a dash of cumin, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Loaded them up with sliced jalapenos, avocados, thinly sliced red onion, and home-grown tomatoes from Marie's glorious garden. I didn't have any lettuce or sprouts which made me quite sad...I think that would have been a nice addition.

In summary, it is a bit messy & less convenient than store-bought to make your own veggie burgers, but well worth the time and effort. I have frozen the remaining patties for future use, will blog later on how well they do with cooking after being frozen.

As 2010 comes to a close, I reflect on my eating behaviour in the past 12 months. Started off (plant) strong, and slowly naughty foods started creeping back into my diet (bacon, gravy, cheeseburgers, oh my!).

In hopes of not sounding like a broken record, I have high hopes for my ability to make better choices in 2011 -- to improve overall health & fitness. What this means to me is a plant-strong diet, and exercise-strong lifestyle. Every day.

The first and most obvious milestone will happen in April -- we are embarking on a 8-day trip to Costa Rica in celebration of Mark's 40th birthday. I will wear a bikini for a week straight, and I will like it. That is my mantra. It has been a couple years since I visited CR, cannot wait to go back! Following CR, not as fancy but still a delight, we will be spending a week in Port Aransas for the week of July 4th. Once again: I will wear a bikini for a week straight, and I will like it!